Maple fretboard?

[dabbler]

BTW, nice collection, I am an SX fan. This is what happens when we find an affordable bass that also plays and sounds great.

Actually, it's worse than that:

 

[electracoyote]

I'm saving this to my desktop to show my wife the next time she tells me I have a GAS problem.

Actually, it's worse than that:

 

[Mike M.]

All my basses from the past had rosewood fretboards, but my last three purchases have maple fretboards. Don't know what it is but the maple ones feel "dimensionally" differant to me and I find them easier to play.

 

[hemmerlinj]

I just bought my first bass with a maple fretboard this past year year, and I couldn't be happier. Looks wonderful and sounds great too.

 

[cloverkeys]

My eyes say I can never own a maple board, just plain don't like it.

 

[Thrill-House]

My eyes say I can never own a maple board, just plain don't like it.

Im actually the opposite. I will always go for maple unless it is not an option and the bass has other features that make up for it.

Also, Dabbler, are some of those basses just straight up copies? Or is there something different in each one of them?

 

[dabbler]

Im actually the opposite. I will always go for maple unless it is not an option and the bass has other features that make up for it.

Also, Dabbler, are some of those basses just straight up copies? Or is there something different in each one of them?

Each is different, there are no duplicates. (hint: the ones with no inlays are fretless)

 

[gurensan]

Call me crazy, but I think that there is a slight difference in feel when playing too. I myself am a Maple Boy. To me, maple feels harder so the strings dont sink into the board as much as rosewood.

BRUMSHINE

The funny thing there is that the rosewood is really the harder wood. I've had 12/4 chunks of maple though with tap tones that sounded like a hunk of steel... rosewood doesn't "tink" like maple does.

I like maple better.

 

[awilkie84]

That's weird because rosewood is harder than maple. Wenge is somewhere between the two and ebony is way harder than any of them.

Maple is finished, rosewood is raw.

New-age poly finishes are bulletproof

 

[phillybass101]

I just simply prefer maple boards but will settle for something else if maple is not available. There are some killer sounding axes out there that do not have maple boards. I just like the way they look in contrast to the rest of the bass. I turned down an awesome deal on a bass simply because it had a rosewood board. Instead I'm going to wait for a fresh build with a maple board. it's just a simple subjective opinion on my part.

 

[Fuzzbass]

My experience is that it does. I have 4 (actually more) SX J style basses in LPB. 2 with Rosewood boards (fretted and fretless) and 2 with maple boards (fretted and fretless). There was a definite audible brightness in both maple board basses.

All of those basses have LPB, however the two maple-boarded basses also happen to be the only ones with white knobs, so you haven't proven that their brighter tone comes from the fingerboard.

 

[David Grunigen]

Most of the basses I end up with seem to have Maple boards, so I must have some sort of subconcious connection to them... My maple jazz does seem to have a "faster" feel to it though..

 

[Buster Brown]

Wacko 2 checking in. I especially notice it on p basses.

Ummm...Guess ya better put me in the Wacko column also!

 

[Runnerman]

Is there a club for Wackos on here.....or is it just sort of the whole board?

 

[SturmUndDrang]

Kind of surprised no one has mentioned sustainability. A maple tree grows quicker than an exotic species and is harvested under higher environmental standards in North America as well. Save the rainforests!

 

[KJung]

Actually, it's worse than that:

I'm not sure what to say about that

 

[Calaverasgrande]

Having played & owned MIA P-basses of the same model with a rosewood board & maple board, it's all in the feel. There were no tonal differences at all, but the maple board felt harder &, to me, cheaper. :S It did look pretty, though.



Play an active bass, then say this again.

I own only one bass which is not active.
All an eq does is raise or lower the amplitude of frequencies that are already there.
It won't make a bass sound likr a guitar or change what the wood does for the sound.
I actually think my rosewood fretboarded Sub is brighter than my Ray or my sterling. But not as attacky.

 

[Itzayana]

Actually, it's worse than that:

Professional help is only a phone call away!
At least they aren't as messy as cats.

 

[dbd1963]

I like Maple on a Fender. But I really like Wenge on a 'Wick.

 

[awilkie84]

I own only one bass which is not active.
All an eq does is raise or lower the amplitude of frequencies that are already there.
It won't make a bass sound likr a guitar or change what the wood does for the sound.
I actually think my rosewood fretboarded Sub is brighter than my Ray or my sterling. But not as attacky.

Odd...when I turn my Treble up and my bass down on my ReBop5DLX, I can get a VERY guitar-like sound. Of course, I have to play further up the neck to be in their range.